Citation

Eben C, Billieux J, Verbruggen F. Psychol. Belg. 2020; 60(1): 1-17.

Affiliation

Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, BE.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Ubiquity Press)

DOI

10.5334/pb.502

PMID

31915527

PMCID

PMC6941237

Abstract

This critical review elaborates on the origin of impulsive actions and how these can be controlled. We focus in particular on the role of negative events. First, we outline how impulsive actions often originate from negative events that are (emotionally) appraised. A discrepancy between this current state and a desired goal state leads to action tendencies. The urgency of the resulting action depends on the importance of the goal and the size of the discrepancy. Second, we discuss how such impulsive actions can be regulated or controlled e.g. by biasing competition between different options, or by completely suppressing all motor output. Importantly, such control mechanisms might also depend on emotional factors. To reconcile these findings, we present a coherent theoretical framework, taking into account various cognitive, affective, and motivational mechanisms as well as contextual factors that play a crucial role in the origin and control of impulsive actions.

Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s).

Language: en

Keywords

action control; emotion; impulsive action; impulsivity